French A1 vocabulary: 300 most common words with examples

A1 is the first 300 words, the backbone of everyday French.

This level has 36 concepts in the skill map: 300 words in small groups and 5 lessons. Each one unlocks once you master what it builds on.

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Updated October 21, 2026

Grammar

Articles and gender: le, la, les, un, une French nouns are masculine or feminine: le livre, la table. Les is the plural for both. Un / une mean "a".
Question words: qui, quoi, où, quand, comment, pourquoi Qui (who), quoi / que (what), où (where), quand (when), comment (how), pourquoi (why), combien (how much).
Ne ... pas: saying "not" Wrap the verb: je ne sais pas "I do not know". In speech, ne is often dropped: je sais pas.
Être: to be Je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont. Use it for identity, origin and descriptions.
Avoir: to have (and to be hungry, 20 years old) J'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont. French uses avoir for age and some feelings: j'ai faim.

Word list

#	Word	English
1	de	of, from
2	je	I
3	être	to be
4	pas	not (ne ... pas)
5	le	the (masculine)
6	que	that, which
7	la	the (feminine)
8	vous	you
9	tu	you
10	un	a, an
11	à	to
12	et	and
13	il	he
14	avoir	to have
15	ne	not (ne ... pas)
16	en	in
17	on	one, people
18	ça	that, it
19	ce	this, that
20	pour	for
21	des	of the, from the
22	qui	who, whom
23	mais	but
24	dans	in, inside
25	nous	we
26	elle	she
27	me	me
28	bien	well
29	si	if
30	du	of the, from the
31	y	there
32	non	no
33	avec	with
34	tout	all, every
35	plus	more
36	mon	my
37	te	you
38	au	to the, at the (masculine)
39	faire	to do, to make
40	moi	me
41	oui	yes
42	aller	to go
43	ils	they
44	sur	on, upon
45	quoi	what
46	se	himself, herself, themselves
47	comme	as
48	savoir	to know
49	vouloir	to want, wish, desire
50	ici	here
51	toi	you
52	dire	to say, to tell
53	lui	him, her
54	votre	your, belonging to you
55	pourquoi	why
56	où	where
57	là	there
58	rien	nothing
59	quand	when
60	pouvoir	can, to be able to
61	son	his, her, its
62	alors	then
63	ton	your
64	comment	how
65	par	by, through
66	ou	or
67	chose	thing
68	bon	good
69	merci	thank you
70	juste	exactly, precisely
71	très	very
72	jamais	never
73	aussi	too, also, as well
74	vraiment	truly, really, genuinely
75	voir	to see
76	même	same
77	sa	his, her, its, their, one's
78	maintenant	now, currently
79	tous	all
80	deux	two
81	ta	your
82	autre	other, another
83	peu	little, not much
84	temps	time
85	quelque	some
86	toujours	always
87	encore	still
88	notre	our
89	mes	my
90	besoin	need
91	accord	agreement (d'accord: okay)
92	falloir	to be necessary, must (il faut)
93	devoir	must, to have to, should
94	vie	life
95	fois	time, occasion (une fois: once)
96	vu	seen
97	donc	therefore, consequently
98	sans	without
99	monde	world
100	parce	because (parce que)
101	avant	beforehand
102	sûr	sure, certain
103	trop	too, too much
104	parler	to speak, talk
105	personne	person
106	père	father
107	croire	to believe
108	après	after, later than in time
109	aux	to the, at the (plural)
110	dieu	God
111	ouais	yeah
112	ses	his, her, its, their, one's
113	penser	to think
114	aimer	to love
115	leur	their
116	homme	man
117	venir	to come
118	vrai	true
119	femme	woman
120	an	year
121	mal	badly
122	chez	at (someone's place), at the home of
123	déjà	already, before
124	depuis	since
125	beaucoup	much, very much, a lot
126	mourir	to die
127	mieux	better
128	mère	mother
129	fille	girl
130	tes	your
131	gens	people
132	quel	which, what
133	désolé	sorry
134	voilà	there is, here is
135	petit	small
136	maison	house, home
137	soit	or
138	cela	that
139	soir	evening
140	passer	to pass, to go by
141	prendre	to take
142	jour	day
143	monsieur	mister, sir
144	salut	hi, hello
145	cet	this
146	nom	name
147	argent	money
148	bonjour	hello, good morning
149	nuit	night
150	raison	reason
151	moins	minus
152	arriver	to arrive
153	maman	mummy, mommy, mom, mum
154	rester	to stay
155	moment	moment
156	seul	lonely
157	aider	to help
158	air	air
159	entre	between
160	papa	papa, a child's father
161	problème	problem
162	peur	fear
163	regarder	to look at
164	gars	lad, guy
165	trouver	to find
166	fils	son
167	attendre	to wait for, to await
168	trois	three
169	assez	to a sufficient or moderate degree
170	famille	family
171	eh	signifying indifference or surprise
172	plaire	to please, to appeal to
173	travail	work
174	tête	head
175	appeler	to call
176	fait	fact
177	partir	to go away, leave, depart
178	vite	quickly
179	arrêter	to stop, to come to a standstill
180	voiture	car
181	enfant	child
182	tuer	to kill
183	merde	break a leg!
184	pendant	during, throughout, for the duration of
185	idée	idea
186	chance	chance
187	elles	they
188	grand	big
189	ami	friend
190	demain	tomorrow
191	tard	late
192	puis	then
193	truc	procedure, technique
194	tant	so much
195	connaître	to know, to be familiar with
196	combien	how much
197	mec	guy, fellow, bloke, chap, dude, boyfriend
198	sens	meaning, sense
199	porte	door
200	sortir	to exit, go out, come out
201	super	extremely, very
202	heure	hour, time
203	contre	against
204	coup	sound of the action
205	comprendre	to understand, comprehend
206	entendre	to hear
207	ensemble	together
208	nouveau	new, novel
209	amour	love
210	sang	blood
211	cas	case, situation
212	sous	below, under
213	finir	to finish, end, complete
214	question	question
215	parti	divided into two equal parts vertically, per pale
216	histoire	story
217	dernier	last
218	demander	to ask
219	chercher	to look for, to seek
220	genre	like, kind of
221	seulement	only
222	police	police
223	car	as, since, because, for
224	mois	month
225	frère	brother
226	laisser	to leave, to leave behind
227	aucun	no, none, not any
228	mettre	to put
229	chaque	each
230	ville	town, city
231	longtemps	for a long time
232	bébé	baby
233	place	place, square, plaza, piazza
234	revoir	to see again
235	ni	neither
236	attention	look out! watch out! careful!
237	donner	to give
238	affaire	business
239	endroit	place, spot
240	corps	body
241	façon	way
242	voici	here is
243	train	train
244	dont	of/from whom/which, whose
245	écoute	the act of listening
246	œil	eye, organ that is sensitive to light
247	type	type
248	perdre	to lose
249	premier	first
250	côté	as for, in terms of
251	point	not
252	tellement	so
253	main	hand
254	tenir	to have
255	vieux	old
256	matin	morning
257	pardon	excuse me
258	suite	result
259	vers	towards
260	minute	minute
261	devant	confronted with, faced with
262	enfin	finally
263	cause	cause
264	chambre	a room
265	droit	straight, straight on
266	eau	water, a liquid that is transparent
267	compte	account
268	terre	earth
269	beau	handsome, fine, attractive
270	espérer	to hope
271	loin	far, distant
272	mari	husband
273	fin	end, close, finish
274	gros	big, thick, fat
275	boulot	work
276	plutôt	rather, instead
277	chéri	cherished
278	prêt	ready
279	bureau	desk
280	hier	yesterday
281	possible	possible
282	jouer	to play
283	celui	the one
284	jeune	young
285	dehors	outside
286	docteur	a doctor
287	confiance	confidence
288	année	year
289	vérité	truth
290	école	school
291	chef	head
292	propos	aim, intention
293	semaine	week
294	vivre	to live
295	feu	fire
296	journée	day
297	madame	madam, Mrs. or Ms
298	téléphone	telephone
299	près	near
300	dessus	on